INTO THE BADLANDS: Travels Through Urban America...

INTO THE BADLANDS: Travels Through Urban America by John Williams (Flamingo / HarperCollins: $11; 240 pp.). In this maladroit memoir, British journalist John Williams roams America, visiting his favorite crime writers and the settings for their books. He searches for the gritty James Ellroy / Elmore Leonard side of America, but seems dismayed when he finds it, fussing when he feels unsafe. Although he complains about American beer, he drinks quite a lot of it and describes his hangovers in a pallid imitation of hard-boiled detective prose. For a journalist, Williams treats details rather casually: In Los Angeles, he notes the popularity of “Majic” Johnson and looks for the cast of “Remington PI.” Williams’ silly but eager book offers U.S. readers an in-your-face twist on the popular genre of the Yankee adventurer drinking his way through Latin America.